Implicate and explicate order: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:38, 19 July 2005

Revision as of 18:10, 19 July 2005

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Bohm’s [[paradigm]] is inherently antithetical to [[reductionism]], in most forms, and accordingly can be regarded as a form of [[ontological]] [[holism]]. On this, Bohm noted of prevailing views among physicists: "the world is assumed to be constituted of a set of separately existent, indivisible and unchangeable 'elementary particles', which are the fundamental 'building blocks' of the entire universe … there seems to be an unshakable faith among physicists that either such particles, or some other kind yet to be discovered, will eventually make possible a complete and coherent explanation of everything" (Bohm, 1980, p. 173).

In Bohm’s conception of order, then, '''primacy''' is given to the '''undivided whole''', and the Implicate Order inherent within the whole, rather than to 'parts' of the whole, such as particles, quantum states, and continua. The whole encompasses all [[things]], [[structures]], abstractions and [[processes]], including processes that result in (relatively) stable structures as well as those that involve metamorphosis of structures or things. Importantly, parts may be [[entities]] normally regarded as [[physical]], such as [[atoms]] or sub-atomic [[particles]], but they may also be [[abstract]] entities, such as quantum states. Whatever their nature and character, these parts are considered ''in terms of'' the whole, and in such terms, they constitute ''relatively'' autonomous and independent "sub-totalities". The '''implication''' is that nothing is ''entirely'' separate or autonomous.

[[Image:Vortex.jpg|thumb|210px|left|A vortex in a stream - a relatively stable pattern which occurs within a continuous flow of liquid]]

Bohm (1980, p. 11) said: "The new form of insight can perhaps best be called Undivided Wholeness in Flowing Movement. This view implies that flow is, in some sense, prior to that of the ‘things’ that can be seen to form and dissolve in this flow". According to Bohm, a vivid [[image]] of this is afforded by [[vortex]] structures in a flowing [[stream]]. Such vortices can be relatively stable [[patterns]] within a [[continuous]] flow, but such an analysis does not imply that the flow patterns have any sharp [[division]], or that they are literally separate and independently existent entities; rather, they are (most fundamentally) undivided. Thus, according to Bohm’s view, the whole is in [[continuous]] [[flux]] and hence is referred to as the '''[[holomovement]]''' (movement of the whole).

===Quantum theory and relativity theory===